Goblin Slayer Vol. 1 & 2 Review

RPG style manga and anime has become a growing trend. Some have well crafted stories that develop a strong following, (Overlord). Others can be guilty pleasures since the story is so dumb but I just can’t turn away, (almost anything Sword Art Online related). After seeing the news of an anime adaptation in the works for a series titled Goblin Slayer, I decided to see if this was a series I could get hooked into. A young, low ranking priestess decides to become an adventurer and before long she joins a team to go after monsters. A well meaning yet overly ambitious quest quickly turns into a bloodbath leaving the Priestess attempting to heal a teammate as goblins kill, rape, and eat the remainder of her team. Just before her young life can be cut short, an heavily armored warrior appears and kills the goblins. Escorting her to safety and attacking goblins further inside the cave, this warrior goes by a simple name; Goblin Slayer. This manga is completely different than I initially thought. Much less like Sword Oratoria, it resembles the darkness of Overlord but perhaps even more so epic manga series like Berserk and Ubel Blatt. Goblin Slayer has plenty of violence to go around and even some moments of fan service but does this series carry enough weight to stand out in a sea of titles much like it? I’m not quite sure. This isn’t to say it didn’t grab my interest, but Goblin Slayer just feels like another video game-esque, dark RPG style story. Titles like it, (Akame Ga Kill, Sword Oratoria, Overlord, Ubel Blatt), stand out because they explore so many different themes with a cast of characters you want to see succeed and the distinct kind of evil villains you desperately want to die. Goblin Slayer feels very simple in Volume One; a knowledgeable and powerful dude wants to kill Goblins and a priestess is by his side to help. The simplicity of it wouldn’t really a bad thing if this were a hack and slash video game. Volume 2 adds more blood, gore, and action to the already blood soaked series but not very much depth. Maybe that’s to be expected considering the characters do not have real names and are only addressed by their class title. If you’re looking for a violent manga with fan-service and not much else, this is for you. If you’re looking for a violent manga with layers of story and character development, maybe try Ubel Blatt or Berserk. Goblin Slayer could be worth sticking to since it’s still very early in the series and is receiving an anime adaptation later in the year.